Jenny Jones gets top in the BEO Slopestyle Semis

Wed 16 January 08

Jenny Jones definitely earned the top spot and applause from the crowd for her impressive back to back 360's and frontside 5 on the kickers in the Burton European Open Slopestyle Semi-finals in Laax in Switzerland

Many of the world’s best slopestyle riders, including Shaun White (USA), Jenny Jones (UK), Jamie Anderson (USA) and Antti Autti (FIN) competed in today’s BEO slopestyle semi-finals, doing their best to earn a spot in the final competition of this 6-Star TTR event.

Jenny Jones Qualifies for the BE0_08 finals in the slopestylePhoto: Marcel Lämmerhirt

The women were up first with 21 riders competing for only eight spots in the finals. Most of the riders pulled out all the stops in their second runs, with the top three slopestyle semi-finalists Jenny Jones (GBR), Jamie Anderson (USA) and Silvia Mittermueller (GER) all earning their highest scores after their first run. Jenny Jones definitely earned the top spot and applause from the crowd for her impressive back to back 360’s and frontside 5 on the kickers. Jamie Anderson stuck two 5’s but got big ups from the judges when she threw down a sick and stylish ally-oop hand plant to fakie on the quarter. 2007 Burton Global Open Series and TTR Champion Torah Bright just missed earning a spot in the finals, placing ninth in today’s semi-finals. The eight women who made it to the slopestyle finals represent eight different nations, making it one of the most diverse BEO women’s slopestyle finals in recent memory. Flims-Laax local rider Sina Candrian (SUI), who was first discovered when she won both BEO junior competitions three years ago, also earned a spot in the women’s slopestyle finals.

Shaun White Qualifies for the BE0_08 finals in the slopestylePhoto: Marcel Lämmerhirt

When it was the men’s turn in the start gate, it was obvious from the practice runs that it was going to be an exciting competition. Snowboarding superstar Shaun White, whose career highlights include the 2007 BGOS Championship, 2007 TTR Champion, 2006 Olympic Gold Medalist and the only athlete to ever win gold at both the Winter and Summer X-Games, was competing - and that always gets the crowd, the judges and the competitors paying close attention. Shaun did not disappoint, as he took a strong lead with his first run and after that, no one could catch up. He started off his winning run with a frontside 270 front boardslide 270 out on the down box, half Cabbed the gap to a backside disaster on the skate quarter. On the snow quarter he busted a backside ally-oop rodeo 540 backside grab, which was followed up by a massive 1080 stalefish followed by back-to-back 9’s on the bottom two kickers.

Shaun White Qualifies for the BE0_08 finals in the slopestylePhoto: Marcel Lämmerhirt

One of the wonderful surprises from today’s men’s slopestyle semi-finals is when this year’s BEO junior halfpipe and slopestyle winner Sébastien Toutant made it into the men’s finals all the way from pre-qualifiers to qualifiers, to semi-finals. In total, 41 men competed in today’s semi-finals for 16 spots in the final competition.

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Snowboard Guide rating 9 out of 10
“Excellent snowsure resort with a good long season. The slopes are great for freestylers and freeriders alike, as well as suiting beginners. The resort can be slack at opening lifts and the off-piste gets tracked out within hours of a dump.”